Miscommunication

Communication, it would seem, has been greatly aided by all the modern technologies of the 21st century. If we wish to contact someone, even someone a great distance away, it only takes a call, a text, an email or even, dare I say it, snail mail. It would seem that communication is so easy and that we as a church or as Christians should have no trouble in getting ourselves heard in sharing the gospel. However, in church this morning David Gordon brought about the concept of noise as viewed by communication theorists. In a world where communication seems so clear and easy there are a variety of ways in which 'noise' - whether it be physical, semantic, psychological or cultural - interferes with what we are trying to communicate and what is actually heard. He then brought about the reality of this concept by relating it to the passage in Luke 11: 37-54. Here Jesus challenges the Pharisees about what they are trying to communicate, what is actually being communicated and the 'noise' which is interfering with the whole process. In this case, the noise preventing them from clearly communicating the gospel is that of their 'religious protocol'. Jesus challenged the Pharisees on the way in which their pedantic obsession with external matters was greatly deflecting the reality of Godly living. By creating an uneccessary need for perfection they were distracting people from hearing the real message of God that they were trying to get across. They created too much noise to communicate clearly.

By exploring the passage we find that not only did Jesus challenge the Pharisees on their actions and attitude but He also challenges us with six very important issues.

1. Our priorities. Are we more concerned with ensuring that we have given enough of what is demanded of us to withhold our reputation or are we concerned with the matters of justice and salvation? (v.42)

2. Are we too concerned with our own importance and place within our church community? (v.43)

3. Are we modelling Christian living in a way that will have a positive effect on those around us? (v.44)

4. Do we burden others with our high standards and demands or do we help them to carry their own load? (v.46)

5. Are we listening to God? (v. 47-51)

6. Are we a help or a hindrance to others in terms of bringing them to faith? (v. 52)

Jesus presents the pertinent example of the bowl - clean and shiny on the outside (which is nice but doesn't help) and filthy on the insde; the part which has a greater impact on the effectiveness of it's use. Such is the nature of hypocrisy that our appearance and importance soon outweigh the importance of our heart and our faith; the parts which make all the difference to the effectiveness of our witness. It is easy to focus on external issues such as reputation, importance and being seen in the right places with desirable people, however, this will not only deflect the heart of the gospel but it will fail to engage the community around us.

God is in the process of challenging me about my 'image' or the persona that I try to convey, with particular relation to where I'm seen and who I'm seen with. A lot of opportunities have come up for hanging out with non-church / non-christian people in a variety of places which some would deem as 'unsuitable' places for a Christian girl to be seen. However, what this passage confirms for me is that no matter the external image which is presented, what God is concerned about (and indeed what the church should be concerned about) are the motives and the attitude upon which our actions are based. No matter how shiny we are on the outside we can be in tatters, barely clinging to our faith on the inside. If this is the case, how then will we communicate as effectively with the world around us?